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Las Vegas • Utah Valley used big advantages in rebounding and at the free-throw line to hand third-year coach Mark Pope his first postseason win on Thursday at the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
The Wolverines got 15 points from Jordan Poydras and pulled away from Seattle midway through the second half to take a 65-53 win in the quarterfinal game at Orleans Arena. The fourth-seeded Wolverines (15-15) will meet No. 1 seed Cal State Bakersfield on Friday at 7 p.m. MST in a semifinal game.
Utah Valley made 23 of 35 free-throw attempts in the slowdown game, compared with 3 of 8 from the stripe by Seattle (13-17). The Wolverines won the rebounding battle 46-26 as Andrew Bastien had 10 and Zach Nelson eight.
"We came out from the get-go and had a big emphasis on the defensive end, and on the offensive glass," Nelson told ESPN 960 AM radio.
Ivory Young added 11 points and Brandon Randolph chipped in 10.
Young hit a pair of 3-pointers 47 seconds apart midway through the second half to give UVU a 48-41 lead, and Seattle never got closer than four the rest of the way.
The Wolverines outscored the Redhawks 33-23 in the second half despite shooting 27 percent (7 of 26) in that half.
"We can score with the best of them, but tonight we also showed we can guard, too. So that feels good," Nelson said. —
Utah Valley 65, Seattle 53
SEATTLE (13-17)
Moore 1-4 2-2 4, Chibuogwu 1-3 0-1 3, Powell 8-14 0-1 16, Westendorf 5-15 0-0 12, Means 0-3 0-0 0, Ulaneo 1-2 0-2 2, Kavas 5-13 1-2 14, Da Campo 1-1 0-0 2, Shaughnessy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 3-8 53.
UTAH VALLEY (15-15)
Nelson 3-7 1-2 7, Bastien 2-3 1-2 5, C.Toolson 2-9 2-2 7, Schenck 0-0 1-3 1, Poydras 4-12 5-8 15, Neilson 0-0 2-2 2, Young 3-6 3-4 11, Randolph 1-4 8-12 10, Ogbe 3-8 0-0 7, Stutzman 0-0 0-0 0, Davenport 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 23-35 65.
Halftime—Utah Valley 32-30. 3-Point Goals—Seattle 6-22 (Kavas 3-8, Westendorf 2-6, Chibuogwu 1-2, Means 0-1, Powell 0-1, Ulaneo 0-1, Moore 0-3), Utah Valley 6-31 (Young 2-5, Poydras 2-8, Ogbe 1-5, C.Toolson 1-7, Randolph 0-3, Nelson 0-3). Fouled Out—Moore, Kavas. Rebounds—Seattle 26 (Moore 5), Utah Valley 43 (Bastien 10). Assists—Seattle 10 (Westendorf 4), Utah Valley 12 (Poydras 4). Total Fouls—Seattle 25, Utah Valley 13. Technicals—Ulaneo.